Cultural attitudes, knowledge, and skills of nursing faculty toward patients from four diverse cultures

Abstract

This study used a convenience sample of 94 nursing faculty recruited among attendees of two professional conferences to describe faculty attitudes toward and perceived level of confidence in cultural knowledge of patients representing four ethnic groups. The study also explored relationships between these variables and the respondents' demographic characteristics. Respondents completed the Cultural Attitudes Scale, the Cultural Self-efficacy Scale, and a demographic survey and wrote a response to an open-ended question. Mean scores indicated moderately positive attitudes toward and moderate-to-high confidence levels in cultural knowledge related to caring for four ethnic groups. Three variables accounted for 33% of the variability in level of confidence in skill in transcultural care: cultural content was included in the curriculum of the employing nursing school, education courses in culture, and the predominant ethnicity of the patients for whom care was provided. Repeated exposure to persons from other cultures was the most frequently cited means of increasing personal comfort in caring for ethnically diverse patients. Only 53% of the respondents remembered cultural content in their own academic preparation. Findings suggest that cultural exposure opportunities enhance faculty-perceived confidence in knowledge and attitudes toward people from other cultures. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.